Namasté, all.
WTyler, I too used to feel very awkward and strange praising one Deva with others in the room, as if such action would be foolish at best and terribly offensive at worst.
But after reading more sacred texts, such as Vedas, I came to see that the Devas themselves make no such distinction. They do not jealously hoard their own worship or express displeasure with each others' devotees. In fact, they often worship and sing praises to each other, and some of the most beautiful forms of God have come from the merging of the Devas' attributes, essences, and glories, or from the empowerment and acknowledgement of one new creation by all existing forms.
A good mother is not angry when her child also loves his father, his aunts and uncles, his siblings and his grandparents. Instead, she rejoices that her child is so filled with love and is able to express it in so many different ways. I think that our Devas are like this, and that perhaps others even sing with us when we praise one of them. They do not ask us to take sides. Only people do that.
Regarding Krishna in particular, goodlife reminds us of a sentence frequently quoted in reference to Him. The idea of offer me a fruit or a leaf, well, that seems simple indeed. But bhakti is a sneaky little seed which can embed in your heart, sprouting and growing with every fruit or leaf you offer. Many of our Krishna-devoted members refer to Krishna as a mischief-maker, a thief, a rogue who sneaks in and steals the unguarded heart. And once your heart is taken by a beloved form of God, you want to give to God with steadfast devotion, purity, and faith, and keep giving and giving. So this may be what that expression meant: not Krishna is hard to please, but You will seldom feel pleased with your service of Krishna.
A person who wants to fear God may certainly seek out tales to support the "truth" that God is hard to please; the Kauravas might have a different perspective on Krishna than what I wrote above, for example. But a person who wants to love God will find other, better truths in the same texts. Do note that when Krishna displays anger, it is always to correct the devotee, always for the person's own good and to lead him/her back upon the righteous path. And anyway, I don't think I've ever read a single tale of him smiting anyone for bringing pineapple instead of kiwi fruit, or for singing Ganesha bhajans in his presence.
Regarding beads, I would suggest using whatever mālā for Ganesha you find comfortable; mantra tends to be self-protecting, in the sense that when you start chanting something "wrong" there's an odd feeling of discord. If you discover a preference to use something other than tulsi, then you could count japa with your fingers while you decide what beads would be better.
Do call me out on what may be numerous sleep-deprived mistakes.
Indraneela
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Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.
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